The present invention is directed toward a hitch for a tree stand ladder and more particularly, toward a tree stand ladder that may be secured to a standard hitch.
Often when hunting or observing game, a hunter finds it advantageous to be located above the ground. In order to achieve this goal, a hunter may sit in a tree. At this elevated position, game may be easily observed without the hunter being detected. Various types of tree stands are known and used by hunters for this purpose.
An example of such a tree stand is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,738 to Hunt et al. This patent discloses a ladder with a platform attached to the top of the ladder. The ladder and platform may be secured to the tree. A problem with such a tree stand, however, is that it becomes burdensome to the hunter to carry such a ladder to a location that may be many miles away from his or her vehicle. Also, the ladder may not be very stable when placed on the ground adjacent the tree.
In order to alleviate the problem of having to carry the ladder, tree stand ladders have been constructed that are easily collapsed and transported by an all terrain vehicle to the desired location. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,127 to Phillips discloses a compact, portable tree stand that may be carried within a vehicle. However, such a tree stand still may be burdensome to unload and set up.
Several other devices seek to overcome the problems discussed above by using a hitch on a vehicle to load the ladder thereon so that the ladder need only be secured to the tree without having to remove the ladder from the hitch. U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,844 to Rector discloses a tree stand carrier for an all terrain vehicle that is connected to a conventional trailer ball hitch. However, securing a tree stand to such a hitch may be somewhat unstable and may not provide adequate support.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,236,062 to Laney and U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2002/0179369 to Wallace both disclose all terrain vehicles with some type of securing means attached thereto that may be used to secure a tree stand ladder to the vehicle. However, these structures are somewhat specialized and may be complicated to use. Therefore, they are rather impractical.
A need exists for a tree stand ladder hitch assembly that is easy to use, provides stability, and may be secured to a standard hitch.